sed or render indiscriminate approbation,
however astounding, admirable, or strange the marvels might appear.

Only the Philippine sister-in-law lacked self-control and talked
volubly, grabbing the datto's wife by the hand, and expressing
herself excitedly in unintelligible Spanish or Zamboanganese, which
is a mixture of Castilian, Visayan, and Malay, Once, in an excess
of emotion, she almost hugged me. I think it was on first seeing the
wonders of a bathroom, and several times she came near enthusing the
passive little "dattoess."

But this princess of the blood always controlled herself just in time,
and managed to look as indifferent as possible. Her dispassionate
attitude launched me into wild tales of Farthest America, wherein
thirty-storied buildings, elevated and underground railways,
beautiful theatres and parks, cars which ran without horses or steam,
and millions of inhabitants produced no impression whatsoever, my
most improbable tale being received with a diffident condescension,
equalled only by the metrical repose that stamps the caste of Vere de
Vere. Given a few months in New York or Paris, and Mindanao's future
Sultana would bloom like a rose in manners and millinery, for, despite
her reserve, she is adaptable and what the Spaniards call _simpatica_.

Datto Mandi was frankly pleased with what he saw, though
unenthusiastic, and he compared Spanish methods of government with
American administration much to our advantage, saying tersely and
epigrammatically that the Spaniards promised much and accomplished
little, while the Americans promised little and accomplished much. In
speaking of the cable, one of the Signal Corps officers told the
Rajah Muda that it was a gift of half a million pesos from the United
States to the Philippine Islands, at which the datto was obviously
impressed. He translated this bit of information into Malay for the
benefit of his followers, the monetary item seeming to have a profound
effect upon them all, even the little wife showing a decided interest
at the thought of that slimy rubber garden hose costing such a lot
of silver dollars.

Just at noon we stood on the bridge while a national salute was fired
from the forward gun. Twenty-one times the hills around Zamboanga
reverberated to the warlike sound, and twenty-one times the excitable
little sister-in-law squealed with a pleasurable terror. "Madame Mandi"
lost none of her serenity, but she did not like the cannonading,
a